Security testing on for BlackBerry solution

Security agencies are testing ways to access emails on BlackBerry devices through a solution provided by its makers, Research in Motion (RIM).

The company was given a deadline of August 31 for giving an interception solution for its email and messenger services or face a ban.

According to agencies, the government is now checking whether they have the technology to monitor emails when they get briefly stored in an enterprise server. “There have been a number of suggestions offered and this is one of them. A technical team will check those suggestions over the next few days," said a senior government source, who did not want to be identified.

Earlier, DoT in a letter to home ministry said if the solution is not acceptable to the government, service providers would be instructed to stop offering the Enterprise email services on the BlackBerry platform.

The government has expressed security concerns over the highly encrypted data that flows through BlackBerry.

RIM is working in association with the department of telecommunications and security agencies to resolve the issue. RIM uses powerful codes to encrypt email messages as they travel between a BlackBerry device and a computer known as a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) that is designed to secure those emails.

The company had earlier said the emails could be intercepted when it is temporarily stored in an Enterprise server in a decrypted form while travelling between two BlackBerry devices and it does not have a master key. The officials of RIM, which has a subscriber base of nearly one million in India, have informed the government that they would be coming again next week with a more precise solution which will help the Indian security agencies monitor the services.